Bryan Cooper looks forward to pick of Gigginstown House Stud for Cheltenham Gold Cup

Bryan Cooper is one of the top jockeys in national hunt racing. As a retained rider for Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown House Stud, he has a very strong book of rides at next week’s Cheltenham Festival. 

He has to decide which of his employer’s horses he will ride in the most prestigious race of the jumps calendar, the Gold Cup. Don Cossack, trained by Gordon Elliott, and Don Poli, trained by Willie Mullins, are two of the favourites for the race

Q. Horse racing has a lot of followers who wouldn’t actually understand race-riding. While a certain amount of it is innate, there is much that can be learned too. Explain what is required to be a jockey?

A. You’re learning every day of the week. The more you do it, the more you learn.

It’s like kicking a football, or hurling. There are so many aspects to it.

Being relaxed helps a horse to relax, temperament is important too, to make split-second decisions.

You have to be aware the whole time. You can’t be too sleepy or you’ll get caught out.

You have to be aware of what’s around you.

People talk about bravery but when you’re doing it so long, it just comes to you.

Q. It’s a dangerous game though.

A. You can’t think about it. If you do, it’s time to start thinking about something else. You block it out and keep going.

Q. How do you do that when you have suffered serious injury, such as the compound fracture of that was described by Turf Club’s chief medical officer Dr Adrian McGoldrick as “the worst fracture I have ever seen in a lower limb” and left you sidelined for almost nine months?

A. When you’ve good horses to come back and ride in big races, it’s what you want to do.

Q. Can you remember much about the fall?

A. I remember it well. It was a straightforward fall.

I got thrown forward and it was a couple of horses behind me that gave me a bit of a kicking.

I knew straight away that my leg was broke. It was one of those things. My only focus was on getting back as quick as I could because I had a great job to come back to.

Q. You got a lot of positive press for helping fellow jockey Robbie Power after his foot got caught in his horse’s stirrup. He has said you saved his life.

A. It was lucky we both fell and I was there.

I was hardly going to stand there looking at him. It’s one of the worst things that can happen to a jockey.

I remember trying to lift him up and saying ‘Jeez, you’re as fat as fuck!’ When people came, I was able to get it out but if I didn’t catch him, he was gone because his foot wasn’t just stuck in the iron, it was twisted around the leather. He would have been in a spot of bother.

Q. What’s it like during a race?

A. You don’t hear the crowd. You’re in the zone. It’s very hard to explain. You’re only thinking about what’s in front of you and what’s going on around you. What’s going well, who I might want to keep an eye on. There isn’t too much chat among the jockeys, unless you’re out of contention. There’s too much to think about.

Q. How did you get into the sport?

A. I was bred into it.

My father Tom is a trainer and I always wanted to be a jockey. I did a lot of showjumping when I was younger.

My father had a couple of Cheltenham winners and leading Total Enjoyment in after winning the Champion Bumper when I was 10 really gave me the buzz for it. When you saw the crowds and everything, you wanted to experience that, and I’m lucky enough that I have.

Q. What was it like to record your first Cheltenham winner, on Benefficient in 2013?

A. It was everything I thought it would be. It was an Irish winner as well and there’s always a bit more hype when there’s an Irish winner. It’s something you won’t forget.

Q. Gigginstown often have two or three runners in a race, which means you have to make a choice. Did you have to get used to the stress of that and the inevitability that you would get it wrong sometimes?

A. Definitely. You don’t like picking the wrong one and missing out on big winners.

It’s something I’ve learned to deal with quite well over the last few months.

I’m definitely better at dealing with this year than I was last year. It’s something you have to work on always though because if they have two runners in a Grade One and you pick the wrong one, that’s a Grade One gone down the drain.

Q. What are the factors to be weighed up when choosing between Don Poli and Don Cossack?

A. How they’ll travel over (to England), the ground, how they work.

Whatever I feel will be the best choice, I’ll go with that.

I won’t make the call until Wednesday morning. They’re two very different horses. One is laidback with plenty of stamina, the other is classier with more speed.

The fact they’re so different makes it harder because you’re not comparing like with like.

But it’s a good position to be in to be picking between two with a real chance rather than having no ride or being on a no-hoper.

Q. Do you do anything to help unwind?

A.Not really, although I’m thinking about trying a bit of golf after Cheltenham.

I have to do something because there’s only so much you can watch on the telly! It’s important to have something else to take your mind off the job and I believe you have to concentrate hard on golf!

Q. What are the immediate and long- terms aims?

A. To ride one winner at Cheltenham is always the target and obviously I’d love to win the Gold Cup.

What I’d really love though is to be champion jockey. It’s a tall order at the moment but that’s the dream.